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veggie

Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,538
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[CAN] Pigeon wearing crystal meth 'like a backpack' caught inside B.C. prison yard 2
#28127155 - 01/06/23 10:51 AM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
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Pigeon wearing crystal meth 'like a backpack' caught inside B.C. prison yard January 6, 2023 - CBC
Nearly a century ago, a pigeon breeder approached federal customs officers with a bit of an odd problem.
A pigeon he'd recently sold to a buyer in Mexico had flown back to his home in Texas with two aluminum capsules full of cocaine tied to its legs.
After a brief investigation, officials announced their conclusion.
"CARRIER PIGEONS SMUGGLE DRUGS," blared an all-caps newspaper headline on Feb. 2, 1930.
Drug-smuggling pigeons have persisted over the decades since, busted from North America to Europe and Asia.
The birds are caught with pills or powder stuffed into mini-backpacks, tiny baggies or zippered pouches — sometimes foiled because they couldn't get off the ground with all the weight.
Last week, for the first time in recent memory, one was captured in B.C.
"This is kind of a curveball," said John Randle, Pacific regional president of the Union for Canadian Correctional Officers.
Officers 'had to corner it'
Randle said it was a routine day after the holidays at Pacific Institution in Abbotsford, B.C., on Dec. 29.
Officers were standing in one of the fenced inmate unit yards, which prisoners use regularly for hanging out, playing games or just getting some fresh air.
Then the officers noticed something strange: a grey bird with a small package on its back.
"From my understanding, it was tied to it in a similar fashion as like a little backpack," Randle said.
The officers moved in.
"They had to corner it," Randle said. "You can imagine how that would look, trying to catch a pigeon."
After "a lengthy period of time," the officers apprehended the bird, removed its cargo and set it free.
Randle said the package contained about 30 grams of crystal meth, which he described as a "fairly substantial" amount of the intensely addictive stimulant.
"It's definitely scary with the fact that it was crystal meth that was found on the bird because that causes a whole lot of problems," he added.
Corrections Canada confirmed in an email it is investigating, but would not provide further details.
Drones typically the problem
In recent years, corrections officers have increasingly been on the lookout for drones dropping contraband into correctional facilities. Last month, a drone dropped a firearm into Mission Institution.
Since the drone crackdown, Randle said smugglers might be turning back to "old school" methods like pigeons or "throwover" — where someone outside lobs a package over the fence.
"We've been focusing so much on drone interdiction ... now we have to look at I guess pigeons again," said Randle, who hasn't heard of another live pigeon incident in B.C. in his 13 years of experience.
"It's a bit of a reality check for us that that the creativity that people are going to use to try and smuggle drugs and other contraband into the institution is multifaceted."
Homing pigeons have been used to carry messages since the Roman Empire, particularly valued during the First and Second World Wars for their ability to navigate long distances to return to their home lofts with key messages.
One expert said there are two plausible ways to use a pigeon to deliver drugs. One, someone could throw the freighted pigeon over the fence into the prison.
Second, an inmate could spend months training the bird from the inside to recognize the prison as its home. Someone would get the bird to the outside, fasten its cargo and release it to return "home" to the prison.
"Like Shawshank Redemption, where he had a crow from a baby — you could do that with a pigeon. Then, yeah, the pigeon would come back," said Givo Hassko, director of the Vancouver Poultry & Fancy Pigeon Association.
"It's sad in a way, where the pigeons once were used for saving lives is now being used for smuggling," he added. "But I hope they they figure it out."
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Whyterye


Registered: 02/23/18
Posts: 1,238
Loc: Colorado
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Re: [CAN] Pigeon wearing crystal meth 'like a backpack' caught inside B.C. prison yard [Re: veggie] 7
#28127383 - 01/06/23 01:51 PM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
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I was really hooping for a picture of the pigeon wearing the back pack
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viraldrome



Registered: 09/21/18
Posts: 4,224
Loc: Parts Unknown
Last seen: 9 hours, 32 minutes
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Re: [CAN] Pigeon wearing crystal meth 'like a backpack' caught inside B.C. prison yard [Re: Whyterye] 1
#28127722 - 01/06/23 04:56 PM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
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People are addicted if you actually stopped all the meth/fent getting into Canadian prisons there would be riots. Most of it is smuggled in by prison staff.
-------------------- Lysergamides I have tried so far: 1P-LSD, 1cP-LSD, ALD-52, AL-LAD, LSZ, ETH-LAD, MIPLA, EIPLA, 1cP-AL-LAD
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vandago


Registered: 07/07/04
Posts: 20,942
Loc: .
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Re: [CAN] Pigeon wearing crystal meth 'like a backpack' caught inside B.C. prison yard [Re: viraldrome]
#28128964 - 01/07/23 08:28 AM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
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“Ronald Reagan was a pigeon, flyin to a prison…”
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durian_2008
Cornucopian Eating an Elephant



Registered: 04/02/08
Posts: 18,037
Loc: Raccoon City
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Re: [CAN] Pigeon wearing crystal meth 'like a backpack' caught inside B.C. prison yard [Re: vandago] 1
#28129115 - 01/07/23 10:54 AM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
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When is a pigeon a mule?
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vandago


Registered: 07/07/04
Posts: 20,942
Loc: .
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Re: [CAN] Pigeon wearing crystal meth 'like a backpack' caught inside B.C. prison yard [Re: durian_2008]
#28129194 - 01/07/23 11:58 AM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
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Totally explains why those dudes on top of roofs keep to themselves.
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Barnaby
Interesting lifetime


Registered: 12/13/17
Posts: 9,217
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Re: [CAN] Pigeon wearing crystal meth 'like a backpack' caught inside B.C. prison yard [Re: veggie]
#28130168 - 01/08/23 05:38 AM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
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People do get bored in prison yards. Gives one a lot of time to think, like about meth and pigeons but thank God the bird was caught. Hope they didn't shoot the bird for its heinous crime.
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vandago


Registered: 07/07/04
Posts: 20,942
Loc: .
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Re: [CAN] Pigeon wearing crystal meth 'like a backpack' caught inside B.C. prison yard [Re: Barnaby]
#28130185 - 01/08/23 06:14 AM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
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I’m talking about the bird whispers on top of apartment complexes. We can’t blame the bird for its disease. We have to ban bird whispers.
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Barnaby
Interesting lifetime


Registered: 12/13/17
Posts: 9,217
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Re: [CAN] Pigeon wearing crystal meth 'like a backpack' caught inside B.C. prison yard [Re: vandago]
#28130397 - 01/08/23 09:52 AM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
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Makes sense. Prisons as well.
Some birds and people just don't belong in modern society as it is. After some deep thought on the article in question, on with life.
Really have no complaints.
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idontknow1
Stranger

Registered: 03/11/15
Posts: 39
Last seen: 20 days, 22 hours
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Re: [CAN] Pigeon wearing crystal meth 'like a backpack' caught inside B.C. prison yard [Re: Barnaby]
#28131128 - 01/08/23 06:10 PM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
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I can't believe they let the pigeon go. It was clearly intent on distributing plus possession. Only humans can be felons?
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TheShroomanizer
Stranger-Danger


Registered: 06/12/09
Posts: 1,571
Loc: The Swamp
Last seen: 1 year, 25 days
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Re: [CAN] Pigeon wearing crystal meth 'like a backpack' caught inside B.C. prison yard [Re: idontknow1]
#28131654 - 01/09/23 01:51 AM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
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And since this...demand for carrier pigeons/homing pigeons at the ladies National Audubon society of England has sky rocketed, quo bono?
-------------------- Trading Prints -Nature gave us one tongue and two ears so we could listen twice as much as we speak-
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